Method of and apparatus for reducing metals



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. WAKELY. METHOD 0T AND APPARATUS PoR RBDUGTNG METALS.

No. 449,145. Patented Mar. 31, 1891.

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' sheetssheet 2. W. WAKELY. METHOD OP AND APPARATUS POR REDUGING METALS.

No. 449,145. Patented Mar. 31, 1891.

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W. WAKELY. METHOD 0T AND APPARATUS TORBBDUGING METALS. No. 449,145. 4Pa'izented Mar. 31, 1891.

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W. WAKELY. METHOD 0T AND APPARATUS TOR RBDUGING METALS.

(No Model.)

No. 449,145. Patented Mar. 31,1891.

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VILLIAM VAKELY, OF TAUN"O N, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING METALS.

SPECIFGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,145, dated March 31, 1891.

Application filed April 26, 1890.4 Serial No. 349,616. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, VILLIAM VAKELY, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, but now residing at Taunton, county of Bristol, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improve` ment in Methods of and Apparatus for Reducing Metals, or which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and figureson the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to a novel process and apparatus by which metal may be cast into ingots or cakes and reduced and finished in one apparatus.

My invention, among other things, is espe- @muy applicable for the treatment ol what is known as yellow metal, now commonly employed as sheathing for the bottoms of ships.

Prior to my invention yellow metal has been manipulated in the following manner, viz:

First. The molten metal is iirst poured into a mold to form an ingot'or cake, which is allowed to become cold or cooled below the degree of temperature at which the metal may be drawn or reduced.

Second. The ingot of metal is next reheated and reduced in a rolling-mill composed of two or more horizontal rolls, having the lower or lowest roll mounted in fixed or stationary bearings and the upper roll or rolls made adjustable with relation to the fixed lower roll by means of wedges. The ingot is reduced by this machine into the form of a slab.

Third. The slab thus formed is cut up into suitable lengths or pieces, and each piece is reheated to the necessary temperature for reduction and then passed through a second or finishing machine of like construction as the reducing-machine, but com posed of two rolls.

lith the machines or rolling-mills as now commonly constructed and known to me the ingot or cake cannot be reduced directly into the form of a slab, for when a two-height machine is used-that is, a machine composed of two rollers-the metal can only be reduced in one waythat is, it can be fed through the rolls from only one side of the machine and consequently the said metal on its passage over the upper roll from the discharge to the feed side ofthe machine, becomes too cool to be worked-that is, it becomes too cool for the necessary amount of manipulation to produce a slab. So, also, when the machine is what is known as a three-height machine-that is, a machine composed of three rolls--the lowest one of which has fixed or stationary bearings, the slab cannot be reduced directly into sheet form of the desired thickness or size, for the rolls would not be sprung or forced apart by the thin piece of metal sufficiently to obtaina stationary bear'- ing for the upper rolls to draw or take hold of the metal, even when the latter is of such temperature as to permit of its being drawn or rolled. Furthermore, the three-height machine as now constructed cannot be used asa finishing-machine,becausetheupperrollscannot be forced apart sufficiently to allow otl their being` ground and polished to obtain a perfectly-finished sheet.

In accordance with my present invention the ingotor cake may be reduced and finished in a single three-height machine or rollingmill in which the center roll is provided with liked or stationary bearings and the upper and lower roll with adjustable bearings, the said rolls having suitable grooves to correspond to the thickness of metal being reduced when used for reducing yellowl metal.

The particular features of my invention will be pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification. g

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine or rolling-mill embodying my invention; Fig.

l, a detail to be referred to; Fig. 2, an endl elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1, look# ing toward the right; Fig. 3, a top or plan view of the machine shown in Fig-2; Fig. 4ade-y 'p tail of the carriage to be referred to; lFigf'',

a top or plan View of a sufficient portion ofA the turn-table portion of the apparatus to enable the operation of the said turn-table to be readily understood, and Fig. 6 a transverse section of the turn-table shown in Fig. 5 on line oc x. o

The rolling-mill portion of the apparatus, in accordance with my invention, is composed of three substantially horizontal rolls a a a2, arranged above each other to form what is technically known as a three-height machine. The rolls a a a2 have suitable bearings, as will be described, in uprights a3 a4, secured to or forming part of a base a5. The

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middle roll d is supported at its opposite ends by lower beari 11g-blocks a", secured to or forming part of the uprights a3 al, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and the upper bearing block or box al is made independent of the frame, but is prevented from being moved upward by lugs or projections d on the inner side of the uprights a3 athe said upper box or bearing being made fixed or stationary by one or more shims a9, interposed between the said bearing-blocks, the said upper box and shim heilig made stationary by suitable keys am, interposed between the said box and the lugs d8. The upper roll a is supported in movable bearing-blocks am (L12, and the roll a2 is supported in movable bearing-blocks al d, the said blocks being guided in their movement by guides (shown as plates or bearings) um, secured to the opposite sides of the uprights as d, as by bolts al". The movable rolls u, d2 have their journals supported, as herein shown, by auxiliary bearing -blocks 2O 21 which are slotted on the under side to embrace and slide upon levers d d, pivoted, as at alg a2, to the opposite sides of the upright a a4, the said levers having their free ends con nected, as herein shown, to chains am (du, passed about pulleys a?" dit, located above the machine and having attached to their opposite ends weights a2 d2?. The upper bearing boxes or blocks of the movable roll d are adjusted in an upward direction, as herein shown, by means of screw-threaded rods l) ZJ', extended from above down through the uprights a3 d4. The screw-threaded rods l) D have secured to or forming part of them, as herein shown, bevel-gears b2 b3, with which mesh pinions b4 b5 on a shaft D, having bearings in suitable boxes bl hg, herein shown as secu red to or fo rming part of a spindle L", extended into a socket in and supported by the bevel-gears b2 b3, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, the said shaft at one side of the machine being provided, as herein shown, with a hand-wheel b1, by which rota` tion may be imparted to the bevel-gears b2 b3 to raise and lower them to permit of the adjustment of the upper roll a', as will be described. The lower bearing-boxes al" of the movable roll d2 are normally supported, as shown, by threaded rods l)12 Z113, herein shown as extended through bosses ZJ bl on the under side of the base or bed plate a5, the said threaded rods having secured to or forming part of them bevel-gears bl (117 in mesh with pinions Z218 bl on a shaft b2, having bearings in boxes Z121 Z122, secured to or forming part of spindles inserted into a socket in the bevelgears bl 1917. The threaded rod Z113 has secu red to it a gear-wheel b2* in mesh with a gearwheel 525, mounted on a vertical shaft or spindle b2, supported at its lower end, as herein shown, by a bracket 1327, secured to the baseplate of the machine, and at its upper end by a bracket Z228, secured, as by bolt b2, to the upright a4. The shaft D26 has fast upon it, as

herein shown, a turret-wheel 530, which is adapted to be engaged and turned by a rod or handle h3', secured to or forming part of a collar D32, loosely mounted on the said shaft. By turning the shaft i226 b v means of the handle or rod lim the threaded shafts or rods bl 1112 through the system of gears above de.- scribed may be adjusted vertically in the uprights a3 a4 of the frame-work of the machine, so as to remove the roll d2 away from the fixed roll a' to obtain a wider passage between the said rolls, or to bring the roll d2 nearer to the fixed roll d to diminish the size of the passage or opening between the said rolls. The rolls a d d2 are herein shown as reduced in diameter, as at 2 3, to form between the rolls a d passages c and c and between the rolls a and a? passages e2 and c3. The rolls a d CL2 are provided at their end of smallest diameter with collars e ci c, which are of the same or substantially the same diameter as the main or unreduced portions marked 5, (i, and 7, t-he said collars forming bearingsurfaces for the reduced ends of the rolls.

The rolls a d d2 are connected, as will be described, to shafts cT e8 c, supported in sut able uprights el" cl2, and having mounted upon them, respectively, driving-gears el e11 015, the shaft es, as herein shown, forming the driving-shaft for the shafts e'T c. The shafts of the rolls d d a2 are preferably detaehably connected to the shafts cT e8 e by intermediate shafts c16 c1T e, which are secured to the journals of the eo-operating shafts of the rolls and gears, preferably by thimbles or sleeves c2". The ends of the rolls a d a2 and of the shafts c'T cS e and intermediate shafts clG e1T e1S are preferably cut out in three places to form slots or grooves lO, as clearly shown in Figs. ln and 2, and the thimbles 020 are provided on their inner circumference with projections 12, which fit into the grooves or slots lO, and the said thimbles are secured in place, as herein shown, by blocks 14,1itted into longitudinal groovesin the intermediate shafts, which grooves register with and receive the projections l2 of the thimbles C20 and the blocks ll, and the latter, abutting against the ends of the projections l2 of the thimbles, prevent longitudinal movement of the said thimbles on the intermediate shafts, the said blocks being secu red in their grooves, as herein shown, by adj ustably-detachable bands or straps 16. The thimbles e2@ fit upon the ends of the intermediate shafts and the journals of the roll and gear-shafts somewhat loosely, so as to permit of a slight or limited vertical movement of the rolls a a2. The uprights as a" have secured to or forming part of them cross plates or bars (l d', (see Fig. 1,) preferably inclined outwardly and having theirinn'er ends contiguous to the top sarfaee of the rolls a a2. The cross-plate cl has preferably secured to it an auxiliary cross-bar d2 to form a rest for one end of a carrier or supporting-frame d20, pivoted, as at (Z3, to the main or stationary portion (Pof the said frame, the said stationary portion being supported upon a carriage, herein shown as TOO TIO

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consisting of sides el, supporting' axles (Z7, having wheels d, the said wheels being adapted to run on a railway-track d8, extended in the direction of the length of the rolls, the said shafts being provided, as herein shown, with gear-wheels d d10, which mesh with rackbars d12 dm, located within the track and acting to keep the carriage square or true, for a purpose to be herein described. The pivoted portion d2 of the carrier-frame is adapted to be moved on its pivots, as herein shown, by means of a lever d, having one end pivoted, as at C115, to the under side of the movable portion d20, and itself pivoially connected, asl

at C116, to a link or rod d", secured to apulleyblock dis, provided with a pulley d1", adapted to be run on a rod (ZX, extended across the face of the machine and supported by brackets CX21, secured to the uprights a3 a4.

The apparatus as thus far described constitutes the reducing and finishing machine 'or rolling-mill, andthe said apparatus has cooperating with it a revolving table or platform e, (see Figs. 5 and 6,) herein shown as pivotally mounted upon acentral post or support e', and provided on its under side with a circumferential beveled rack -bar or gearteeth e2, with which meshes a beveled gear e3 on a shaft e4, having bearings in suitable uprights e5 e6, supported upona suitable foundation e7, which may be the floor of the room in which the apparatus is located. The shaft ei has mounted upon it a gear e8, with which meshes a gear e on a shaft ew, constituting the driving-shaft for the revolving table, the said shaft being rotated in any usual or wellknown manner. The table e is supported near its circumference by means of wheels cl2, adapted to run on a track or rail cl3, the said wheels having bearings in housings e, herein shown as secured to the table e by boltse. The revolving table e has arranged about its circumference a number of molds @17,pivotally mounted on their under side, as at c, to arms or braces @19, firmly secured, as by bolts 020, to the said table, the said mold being supported in a substantially horizontal position by a cross-bar @21, connecting the co-operating arms or braces el. The mold e is preferably thickened at one end, as at e, so as to form an ingot or cake having a beveled end. One or more of the molds euwill have located belowit a receiving pan or frame @23, supported at a suitable distance below the mold e17 to permit the latter to be turned over, so as to discharge the ingot from the mold into the receiving pan or frame. The pan or frame 623 is herein shown as supported upon an upright @24, and is provided in its bottom, as shown in Fig. 5, with two longitudinal grooves or channels e2, into which a forked tool or rod may enter to take the ingot from the receiving-pan and by means of a suitable overhead railway (not shown) place it upon the supporting-frame d4. The molds all are filled with the yellow metal, which may be taken in a molten state directly from a suitable furnace arranged in close proximityto 'the revolving table, and after being filled with the metal the mold is carried around until it is above the receiving pan @23, and when in this position the operator turns the mold over and dumps Vthe ingot into the receiving-pan, the table being revolved at a suitable speed to enable the molten metal to have become sufciently set or solidied to enable it to be dumped as an ingot or cake. The ingot, as vabove described, is then taken and placed upon the supporting-frame d* and is carried or pushed forward and caused to enter the passage c2 between the rolls a a2, the said passage being of sufficient width to enable the beveled end of the ingot to be inserted therein. The ingot on its way through the passage c2 is reduced somewhat and is received upon a second supporting-frame (Z4, located on the opposite side of the machine and not herein shown, and the pivoted portion of the said frame is raised to return the partially-reduced ingot from the rear side of the machine through the passage c between the rolls a and ct', and as the reduced ingot issues from the passage c on the front side of the machine the operator, by means of the le ver du, raises the movable portion of the stationary frame d* and receives the partiallyreduced ingot, and as soon as the partiallyreduced ingot has cleared the rolls a, a the operator drops the movable portion d20 of the frame, and at the same time the carriage is moved so as to bring the end of the frame` supported by it :in line with the passage c3, which is smaller than the passagecg. The ingot is still further reduced on its way through the passage c3 and is returned through the passage c', which is still smaller than the passage c3, and after the metal has left the passage c, it being received upon the stationary frame, the ingot has been reduced to the form of a slab of a suitable length, which may then be cut up into pieces of suitable length. To obtain they necessary or required amount or weight of metal to the square foot and yet have the sheets to be finished from the said pieces of uniform thickness, after the sheets have been cut up they are then reheated and passed between the portions 6 l7 of the rolls a a2 and are carried back between'the portions 5 6 of the rolls a a by a guide, shown as two metal plates or bars 50 5l, secured to the cross-bar d2 on the rear side of the machine, andV between which the metal sheet passes, and issues from between the portions 5 6 of the rolls as a sheet of the desired thickness, size, and weight. The width of the passages between the rollers a and a may be variedT-as, for instance, it may be increased by revolving the wheel b, so as to withdraw the threaded rods b b away from the upper boxes am and permit the weight d2 to lift the roll a bodily upward until the upper blocks d10 are again brought in contact with the end of the adjusting-rods b. As the lever a is raised by the weight @26, the auxiliary box d20 IIO slides down the said lever and inds its true or central bearing position. The lower roll d2 may be moved away from the fixed roll a by turning the shaft l", and as the threaded rods D12 bis are lowered away from the lower boxes a of thc said roll the said boxes and roll descend by gravity until again uniformly seated in contact with the adjustingrods. The middle roll d always remains fixed or stationary with respect to the top and bottom rolls, and in this way and by means of the adjusting devices above described l am enabled at all times to obtain a rm and solid bearing for the movable rolls a d2, so that when the metal is passed through or between the said rolls and the roll a the said rolls will bite and take hold of and reduce the same.

In finishing the sheets the finishing-rolls become worn after use and it is necessary to frequently true up the rolls, which is accomplished in a two-height machine by lifting the ripper roll and inserting` a polishing or grinding tool, usually a board covered with emery. In a three-height machine, wherein the lowest roll is fixed and the upper and middle rolls are adjustable by wedges, it is impossible to litt the said middle roll away from the lower roll, and consequently a polishing-tool could not be inserted between the said lower and middle rolls, and therefore a three-heightmachine cannot be used for finishing the sheets; but by making the middle roll stationary or fixed and the lower roll adjustable, as described, the polishing-tool may be inserted between them and the rolls rendered true.

It will be seen that the ingots or cakes are reduced or finished on one machine, thereby effecting a saving not only of the cost of one machine, but also of the cost of heating the in gots or cakes before being manipulated and while being reduced in slab form, and also of the labor employed to manipulate the metal, and at the same time effecting a very considcrable saving in time.

l have described my improved machine or rolling-mill as employed for reducing yellow metal; but I do not desire to limit myself in this respect, as the apparatus may be used in reducing and finishing other metals, such as copper, zinc, and iron. So,also,l have shown the rolls as made to form grooves of varying thickness for producing sheets of yellow metal; but I do not desire to limit my invention in this respect, as the rolls may be of any desired form, according io the kind of work required.

1. rlhe herein-describedprocess of forming sheets of yellow and like metal, which consists in casting the metal into a mold to form an ingot or cake, passing the said cake or ingot while in aheated condition between reducingrolls to reduce the said ingot or cake directly into the form of a slab without reheating of the ingot, dividing the said slab into pieces of suitable size to produce a finished sheet,

and passing the said pieces between rolls to reduce the said pieces directly into sheets of the required thickness, size, and weight, substantially as described.

2. In a three-height rolling mill or apparatus, the combination, with a middle roll a', provided with a reduced portion and with a collar c5 of substantially the same diameter as the unreduced portion of the said roll, and fixed or stationary bearings for the said roll, of a movable upper roll d, provided witlra reduced portion and with a collar e'1 of substantially the same diameter as the unreduced portion of tne said roll, Vmovable bearings for said roll, a lower roll a2, provided with a reduced portion and with a collar e of substantially the same diameter as the unreduced portion, and movable bearings for said lower roll, substantially as described.

3. In a three-height rolling mill or apparatus, the combination, with a middle roll a', provided with a series of reduced portions of varying diameter and with a collar e5 of substantially the same diameter as the unreduced portion of the said roll, and fixed or stationary bearings for the said roll, of a movable upper roll d, provided with a series of reduced portions eo-operating with the reduced portions of the roll a and having a collar c of substantially the same diameter as the unredueed portion of the said roll, movable bearings for the roll d, a lower roll c2, provided with a series of reduced portions co-operating with the reduced portions of the roll a and having a collar c6 of substantially the same diameter as the unreduced portion of the roll, movable bearings for the said roll, and means to move the bearings of the upper and lower rolls, substantially as described.

-l. ln a three-height rolling-mill, the combination, with a middle roll having fixed or stationary hearings, of an upper and lower roll provided with movable bearings, auxiliary bearings for the upper and lower rolls, levers to support said auxiliary bearings, and mea-ns connected to said levers to keep the auxiliary bearings in contact with said rolls, substantially as described.

5. In a three-height rolling-mill, the combination, with a middle roll having ixed or stationary bearings a a7, of an upper roll provided with movable bearings am am and a lower roll provided with movable bearings d a, threaded rods l) b to move the upper and lower rolls toward the middle roll, counterbalanced levers pivoted to the frame of the mill, and auxiliary bearings for said upper and lower rolls adjustable on the said levers, substantially as described.

(i. The combination, with a three-height rolling-mill having its middle roll provided with flxed or stationary bearings and its upper and lower roll provided with movable bearings, of acarrieror supporting-frame provided with a pivoted portion d20, an elevated rod or track supported by the frame of the rolling-mill, and means movable on said track IOO IIO

to which the pivoted portion Zwis connected, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a three-height rolling-mill havingl its middle roll provided with fixed or stationary bearings and its npper and lower roll provided with movable bearings, of a carrier or sn p porting-frame provided with a pivoted portion d20 and a stationary port-ion d", a movable carriage to snpport the stationary portion of the carrier, a rod or track dx, extended across the face of the machine, a pulley movable on said track, and means to connect the movable portion of the carrier or supporting-frame with the pulley, to operate substantially as described.

8. The combination, with a three-height rolling-mill having its middle roll provided with fixed or stationary bearings and its npper and lower roll provided with movable bearings, of a carrier or supporting-frame provided with a pivoted portion d20, an elevated rod or track supported by the frame of the rolling-mill, means movable on said track to which the pivoted portion d20 is connected, and a turn-table provided with a series of pivoted molds, to operate substantially as described.` p

In testimony whereof I have signed my n ame to this specification in the presence of two subscribing` witnesses.

WILLIAM WAKELY. Witnesses:

Jas. H. CHURCHILL, EMMA J. BENNETT. 

